TFC steal one

The ancient rivals Liverpool and Manchester United will get it on this morning at 8:30 at Old Trafford. I've got a feeling United run wild, though Fernando Torres has ripped United apart in recent games.

Toronto FC stole three points last night in Houston with two goals from Dwayne DeRosario in the last 30 minutes, the second in the last minute of the game.  Massive win.

Joe Torre announced he won't return as the LA Dodgers manager next year. I'm sure the money troubled, sub-.500 Dodgers are real sour about having to replace him with the far cheaper Don Mattingly next year.

Your Prime Time Pick (3-0, +$300) for tonight is the New York Giants +5.  And if I like it at +5, I like the +9.5 one of my buddies gave me last night even more!  MZ, you're gonna hurt.

Kurt Warner had a higher quarterback ranking than Joe Montana. True story.

If you don't dial in to the Jim Rome Show daily, or aren't a Jungle Insider like yours truly, be sure to tune into TSN2 weekdays for Jim Rome is Burning. It doesn't have the comedy so much, and no clones obviously, but a quick look at his main takes of the day.

Love that the day after Jose Bautista sets the Toronto Blue Jays single season homer record on Friday, the cover of the Toronto Star sports section is filled with an article on Toronto Maple Leaf Phil Kessel showing up to camp - gasp! - in shape. Bautista was relegated to the inside. Shame.

Caught ESPN's 30 for 30 on Michael Jordan. What were the odds that when he rounded the bases after his first home run, the two guys greeting him at the plate wore #8 and #13, and his dad died on August 13th (8th month, 13th day). Why I notice stuff like that is beyond me.

Have a great Sunday.

Ricky be rolling...

Ricky Hatton suffered one of the scariest knockouts you're likely ever to see at the hands of Manny Pacquiao. Three times he hit the canvas in under two rounds, the last looking like he might be dead quite honestly. Pacquiao is incredible, particularly the speed with which he delivers his punches, and when Hatton started round two looking to brawl and flailing wildly, you had to figure it was only a matter of time before he hit the canvas for a final time...if you believe in omens - good or bad - then this one falls under the latter. In the middle of a storm, the Dallas Cowboys practice bubble collapsed and injured twelve at a rookie camp. No matter really, none of their picks were first rounders as it was...the Minnesota Vikings are seriously considering bringing in Brett Favre. Right, because that'll put them over the top. Can't wait to see the venom that would flow his way going back to Green Bay with a divisional rival...the Washington Capitals held serve in Game 1 of their series, downing the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2. Heard at least a dozen people bitch about the start time of 1pm yesterday...suddenly, Don Cherry is taking up for Sidney Crosby, calling him the best player in the NHL...WWE star Batista was in Pacquiao's corner last night. Guess that explains the tat on his shoulder...a funny thing happened on the way to a comfortable 2-0 series lead for the Vancouver Canucks. With the 'nucks up 2-0 early, the Black Hawks rallied for five unanswered to take the game and even the series...the Boston Celtics did what champions do last night and defended their turf and finished off the Chicago Bulls at home...after a 1-1 draw in Toronto, the Columbus Crew 0-4-3 on the season, the worst ever record to open a season for a defending MLS champion...best email of the week to the Jim Rome Show comes after Rome interviewed Carolina Hurricane Ray Whitney, who had one of his kids crying in the background. The email read: "Dear Jim, why is Ray Whitney doing his interview from Sidney Crosby's house?"...Real Madrid were smashed 6-2 at home by Barcelona, effectively giving Barca the Spanish championship. Nice showing, Real...finally today, Bukkake gives you a great link to a sports site worth seeing...have a great Sunday.

The Price is wrong, bitch

See Alexander Ovechkin's 42nd goal last night? Wow. All I can say. Watch it here...Jay Mohr filled in for Jim Rome earlier this week and offered this beauty on former NBAer Jayson Williams wife filing for divorce saying she doesn't feel safe around him - he's the guy who manslaughtered his limo driver years ago - because he urinates in the sink and takes Cialis: "how can you take Cialis and pee in the sink? Things are not going the same way! Maybe you do 'the ski jumper'?" Amazing...sounds more and more like Terrell Owens will be staying with the Dallas Cowboys if Jerry Jones hints are to be believed at face value. Get it? "Jerry Jones" and "face" used in the same sentence. Only at RM do you get this kind of stuff for free...Manchester United put on an absolute clinic yesterday in downing Fulham 3-0, adding to 'keeper Edwin van der Sar's clean sheet total which now has the all-time European mark in site, and adding to the PTP totals with the cover. United now sit five points clear of second place Liverpool in the EPL table with 13 games to go...Toronto Raptors coach Jay Triano get booted with five minutes to go. Surely I'm not the only one who saw that and figured he did it to go write a resignation letter. All kidding aside, the February 9th issue of ESPN The Magazine says "word out of the executive suite says Triano has a great shot at keeping the job" and that he and Bryan Colangelo "have a great connection" and "see the game the same way"...the NBA trade deadline is 3pm today. What, no 12 hour shows on our sports networks?...Al Strachan tells Hardcore Hockey Talk that Alexei Kovalev's issue is a simple one: a single guy enjoying the night life on Crescent Street far too much. Guessing leaving him behind on a road trip then might only increase his partying if he's not wise. But seriously, Strachan says he'll be back on the weekend and a decision will be made in the two weeks leading up to the deadline on whether to move him, knowing right now they're not likely to get value for him...Sir Charles Barkley has - finally - apologized publicly for his DUI earlier this year and returns to the TNT crew tonight. He also publicly thanked Alex Rodriguez and the NBA trade deadline for giving him great cover and keeping this off the front pages of all papers. The latter part isn't true...how to spend $1.3 billion, in under three minutes...folks, ignore the baseball will get a salary cap mental midgets talking. It will not happen and here's a slight clue as to why: league revenues last year were $6.5 billion. Say the players demand 55% of that - a slightly low number relative to what other leagues are doing - teams would need to spend $3.6 billion total to achieve that (rounding up slightly here). That may not seem daunting to you, until you realize the league's teams spent $2.669 billion on salaries last year. There are 30 teams. That averages to $120 million per team. You think that is going to happen? Even assuming that the floor is $80 million, that would give you a ceiling of somewhere around double that. Fine, have it, but expect about a dozen teams to close up shop in short order. That arrangement hurts those at the bottom end FAR more than it hurts the top revenue teams. Look no further than the NHL - you think the Toronto Maple Leafs care about the cap being in place? Hell no. They're more profitable than ever, save for missing playoff dates. But teams like Atlanta, Nashville, Tampa, Florida are DYING because of the salary floor. Great idea, if you want to see a third of the teams disappear. Moreover, a cap in baseball will never happen because not only does the union not want it to - though they should if they could get that 55%, the owners that matter don't want it either...have a great Thursday, back later with your PTP.

Serious Guacamole

How great is that caricature on the right? If you don't agree, you clearly haven't seen who is lounging on Jessica's couch...Shannon Sharpe says that on Super Bowl Sunday, there are enough avocado's consumed to stack them 18 feet high from endzone to endzone. Who figures this stuff out?...in 2008, there was only one left-handed starting pitcher who gave up fewer home runs, pitched more innings and had a lower rate of walks per 9 innings than the New York Yankees Andy Pettitte. That would be CC Sabathia. Two lefties at Yankee Stadium is going to be a real good thing..the Pittsburgh Steelers faced nine of the top 10 defenses this past season. Translation: they'll get theirs against the Arizona Cardinals who are not a top 10 team defensively...maybe it is just me, but I think I'm looking forward to Georges St. Pierre vs. BJ Penn at UFC 94 tomorrow as much as I am the Super Bowl this weekend. If you get a chance to see UFC Primetime - a three part preview of the fight that goes to each man's camp - check it out on Spike pre-fight today or tomorrow. This is gonna be a war. My money is on GSP, but no result would surprise me...it wasn't looking good for the "under" on 195 play last night at 111 points at the half but thanks to a 29 point half for the Cleveland Cavs and 76 on the half including the Orlando Magic, it was a comfortable under in the end and a 99-88 Magic win...it'll be Roger Federer against Rafael Nadal in the finals of the Australian Open. Great weekend for sports, to state the obvious...I get that TSN paid some big bucks to cover the Olympics, but that watermark they're using on screen is a touch oversized, no? Then again, it is more subtle than the four billion ads they ran over the last year plus telling everyone they had the Grey Cup...how has Joe Torre's upcoming book been received by his former employers? Not good. Best line on the subject: "David Wells will be named the team nutritionist before Torre is invited back to the Bronx." Hope it was worth it, Torre. No more number retirement, no Old Timers Day, nada. Asked what he'd do if he saw Torre now, Wells said he'd "knock him out"...Dallas Cowboys Hall of Famer Michael Irvin told Jim Rome that not only will Anquoin Boldin have a greater impact on the Super Bowl than Larry Fitzgerald, he's also a better receiver overall...as you may have seen from GBVH yesterday, Mickey Rourke will not be taking on Chris Jericho at Wrestlemania after all. I'd expect Vince McMahon to kill Rourke for backing out over the coming weeks, but the publicity will be well worth it for the WWE...the United States is putting in bids for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup's. Bet on them getting one of the two. The beauty of the World Cup is that you don't even need to say what sport it is. Really, it is the only true World Cup...back with the Friday night PTP later. Have a great day.

Friday, November 21st, 2008

Line of the day on Tony Romo taking a homeless guy to the movies comes from Jim Rome: "Romo is a tremendous guy! Of course, if he can’t get them out of the first round of the playoffs this year, he’ll be taking Wade Phillips to the movies next." Too true...a strange, strange silence has suddenly descended around the subject of Mats Sundin's return to the NHL. Odd, no?...it wasn't exactly going out on top, but Mike Mussina is retirning after a 20 year win, his first. With 270 career wins, you'd think he's a borderline Hall of Famer. Mix in that he pitched his entire career in the traditionally tough AL East and he'd get my vote, provided I had one. He's the first pitcher to retire since 1920 winning 20+ in his final year. Interesting Mussina fact: he's buying the giant flag pole from the closing Yankee Stadium and having it shipped to his house in Pennsylvania...RM reader Blake got me thinking: the more I watch Toronto Raptors point guard Jose Calderon play, the more I am reminded of Wince Carter. The guy cannot get breathed on without rolling an ankle. Fittingly, Wince visits Toronto tonight. Who goes down first? Calderon also reminds me of something else: someone who should be entered in Jim Rome's "Rat Family"...another day, another AJ Burnett rumor. Word is the Toronto Blue Jays are ready to go up to five years for Burnett. I still think the best deal you can give Burnett is to overpay him for one year deals. Then watch him pitch like a mad man when motivated...14-7 for Prime Time Picks now. Hope you're along for that ride...have a great Friday.